Edgewood officials chose a longtime administrator from Enumclaw to become their new city manager Tuesday night.

The City Council unanimously voted to negotiate a contract with Mark Bauer, the current city administrator in Enumclaw, for the city manager position. City staff will draw up a contract with Bauer and bring it back to the council to approve at a later date. His salary has yet to be determined.

Bauer, 54, has been city administrator in Enumclaw since 1999, and was public works director there from 1991 to 1999.

He will replace Edgewood’s former city manager, Kim Wilde, who left the East Pierce County city in July after less than a year. Before that, Henry Lawrence led the city from 1998 to 2008.

The council chose Bauer out of a pool of 64 total candidates and ahead of four other finalists. All the finalists were from Washington state.

In a phone interview shortly after the council’s decision Tuesday night, Bauer said he thinks he can help Edgewood retain the rural qualities that residents value while generating some additional development around the town center.

“I bring 10 years of experience, and a skill set that can help guide the city through its developing years,” Bauer said.

One element that helped Bauer rise to the top of the pool of candidates was his background in public works, said Edgewood Mayor Jeff Hogan. Hogan said those skills will benefit the new manager as he takes the reins of the city’s sewer local improvement district project, which will install a sewer line along Meridian Avenue through the center of Edgewood during the coming year.

Another challenge that lies before the incoming city manager is how to close a gap in the city’s general fund budget, which earlier this year totaled $750,000.

“Balancing the general fund is going to be the toughest thing,” said Edgewood Councilman Paul Crowley.

The city also will need to work with the state Department of Transportation when the agency widens Meridian Avenue in 2010, a major project through the center of the city.

It helps that Bauer hails from a nearby city and knows the Puget Sound area, said Edgewood Councilman Dave Olson. Wilde, the city’s last manager, hailed from Waunakee, Wis., though he previously worked as an administrator in Snoqualmie, King County.

Bauer “was a local city administrator that was overseeing a city similar to ours – a city with urban and rural issues,” Olson said.